Well, completism runs rampant, but I’m able to tick off another item on the under-track extravaganza. In my defence, I did go to a genuine fine-dining restaurant on Saturday (in case you missed it, nestled among the dross) and had never been to a Beck’s before. The oddest things about this Beck’s experience were as […]
Month: July 2009
- Kanda
- ...
Ramen Y’s, Kanda (わいず)
For the whole of this month, I’ve been thinking about ramen. It’s a lousy idea – now that temperatures are over 90, we’ll walk around outside in the sun before settling into a narrow, cramped, galley-style restaurant where the stools are packed like pins in a cushion and the other customer are similarly big, male […]
- bar
- ...
Lucky’s Bar, Roppongi
In high school I had a friend who had two cats, Lucky and Shamrock (I’m not making this up). They were both all black. Lucky was the one who was run over by a car. None of that has anything to do with Lucky’s Bar, which is pretty well hidden off an alley in Roppongi […]
- Italian
- ...
Piatto Suzuki, Azabu Juban
Sometimes events make you question your life and the path you’ve been on. This was not one of those events. It DID, however, make me question the basis for Michelin ratings. Coming on the heels of an adequate but unenlightening Chez Tomo experience, the equally one-starred Piatto Suzuki was a pleasant and tasty but ultimately […]
Yong Jiang, Nihonbashi (甬江)
Nothing like a quick Chinese dinner on the way home. You know I’m not generally in favor of Chinese dinners, but I’m certainly in favor of broadened horizons. This place is on the 4th floor of Coredo, near Da Cibo and Quatorieme. It’s a Big Menu place – folds out to 6 pages, organized into […]
- Other treats
- ...
Steak Seitou, Tokyo
July 16th, 2009. 8:33 AM. Ding has pointed out that the reason I couldn’t find the website for this place was that I was spelling it wrong. A thousand pardons.________________________________________________________ Ahhhh, Japanese people are really into things. I love that cliche, especially when I get to live it. One of my newer colleagues recommended Saitou […]
- Otemachi
- ...
Tateshina Soba, Otemachi
You’ve been taught that business cards are of vital import in Japanese business life, right? I thought so. Now ponder what it means when a restaurant doesn’t have a card to give you, and in fact the very request sends the staff off in peals of laughter. I think it’s supposed to mean they’re too […]
Isola Smeralda, Marunouchi (丸ビル5階)
Do you get these cravings sometimes? Maybe you’re pregnant so you understand (I made some pickles on Sunday. They’re getting pretty good now!). Sometimes I eat so little meat that I just get desperate for beef. Today it was…cranberry juice. I thought Meijiya was the place to go, but they didn’t have it. In any […]
- Other treats
- ...
Okazuya Heikuboncho, Marunouchi (Oazo)
You’d be for given for thinking I’d sneezed in some spectacular way,what with the length and glottal spasming of that name. But no, that’s what they call it! The first part is something like ‘side-dish seller’, and that’s a pretty accurate capsule review here – great side dishes, lackluster mains. (I feel unusually compelled to […]
Beacon, Shibuya
Last year on my birthday I thought ‘I want steak. American-style steak.’ As a result I ended up at 57. That wasn’t bad, and it was inside an easy walk from the office (back in those heady daze when we all worked in Hillz), but I wish I had gone to Beacon. The steaks are […]